Markie L. C. Blumer

SHEDDING LIGHT ON THIRTEEN YEARS OF DARKNESS: CONTENT ANALYSIS OF ARTICLES PERTAINING TO TRANSGENDER ISSUES IN MARRIAGE ⁄ COUPLE AND FAMILY THERAPY JOURNALS

What is the extent to which marriage/couple and family therapy (M/CFT) journals address transgender issues and how many of them say they are inclusive of transgender persons when they are not? To answer these queries, a content analysis was conducted on articles published in M/CFT literature from 1997 through 2009. Of the 10,739 articles examined in 17 journals, only nine (0.0008%) focused on transgender issues or used gender variance as a variable. Findings support the assertion that transgender issues are ignored and marginalized by M/CFT scholars and researchers alike.

How many bytes does it take? A content analysis of cyber issues in couple and family therapy journals

In the fifteen years since the explosion of the Internet, using cyber technology for work and social functions has exponentially increased. Yet, questions around how to manage such changes remain elusive in family therapy literature. In this investigation, we conducted a content analysis to determine to what extent marriage/couple and family therapy (M/CFT) journals have responded to the integration of the Internet in couple and family life. We found 79 of 13,274 articles across seventeen journals focused on the Internet in some capacity. Implications for clinical practice, training, and future research are discussed.

Cisgenderism in Family Therapy: How Everyday Clinical Practices Can Delegitimize People's Gender Self-Designations

Cisgenderism is the ideology that delegitimizes peoples own designations of their genders and bodies. Family therapy (FT) offers a systemic, non-pathologizing framework for working with people who have experienced cisgenderism. Unfortunately, FT practices, like those of many mental health professionals, are often cisgenderist. The authors discuss literature on cisgenderism, explore implications of therapists’ and supervisors’ cisgenderist practices, and provide a brief self-reflection tool.

Creating a Collaborative Research Team: Feminist Reflections

Abstract As a team and as individuals, we discuss our success as a research team in the context of being connected to our collaboration. Research collaboration is not a new topic, however, there is little written on the subject. For these reasons, we felt it was important to give voice to our collaborative efforts and include the aspects we believe made it successful. Through dialogue about our research process, aspects of successful collaboration were identified, many of which appeared consistent with feminist ideas, including an invitation to participate, membership, knowledge of self, power, and practicalities.

Reflections on Becoming Feminist Therapists: Honoring Our Feminist Mentors

A dearth of literature on feminist clinical mentorship exists. Seldom is one afforded the opportunity to trace ones developmental roots as a feminist, reflect on the process of becoming a feminist-informed clinician, and to express gratitude and appreciation for those feminists who acted as mentors and/or influenced ones development as a feminist clinician. In this piece we discuss our experiences of feminist clinical mentoring and honor our feminist mentors and/or influences. We explore our feminist roots through the tracing of our intergenerational feminist mentoring tree and discuss the profound effect that the mentoring relationship had on the development of our professional and personal identities.

Marriage and Family Counselors’ Perceived Ethical Issues Related to Online Therapy

Technology use in the practice of couple and family therapy has many advantages. The use of online and technology-based modes of communication for therapy, however, presents several valid ethical concerns. In a survey of 226 licensed Marriage and Family Counselors, students, and supervisors, participants were asked to identify ethical concerns and drawbacks of online therapy. Five themes related to this topic emerged: (a) confidentiality, (b) impact to the therapeutic relationship, (c) licensing and liability issues, (d) issues related to crises and risky clinical situations, and (e) training and education. Implications for practice, training, and research are discussed.

Valuing the Gender-Variant Therapist: Therapeutic Experiences, Tools, and Implications of a Female-to-Male Trans-Variant Clinician

ABSTRACT Moderate amounts of literature exist regarding the experiences and perspective of the male clinician in practice with clients. However, there is a dearth of literature on experiences of female-to-male transsexual clinicians, or gender-variant therapists in general. In a world in which gender roles are becoming more fluid, yet the gender stereotypes more rigid, more clients are challenging dominant societal constructs and tackling gender issues. In so doing they often experience great conflict and guilt regarding gender identity and their place in the world. Gender-variant clients, in particular, have a need for clinicians who are aware of their unique culture, and who have experienced, and continue to live within, the gender-variant culture themselves. A question arises: what therapeutic tools does the gender-variant therapist make use of in working not just with gender-variant clients, but with clients of many different backgrounds? This article attempts to begin a dialogue to assist trans-clinicians in their therapeutic endeavors. As such, the experiences of a female-to-male trans-variant clinician are explored, as well as a literature review conducted of possible feminist therapeutic tools that can be employed to help clinicians consider the implications of gender-variant therapists in their work with clients.

Leaving No Girl Behind: Clinical Intervention Effects on Adolescent Female Academic “High-Risk” Behaviors

Female adolescents are negatively impacted by the effects of dropping out of school. Considerable amounts of information regarding the causes of dropping out, and suggestions for intervention programs exists, however there is little on the effect of clinical programming on dropout prevention. Thus archival information from after-school and individual therapy services within a community agency were evaluated for overall clinical effect, with specific attention to the after-school programs effect on academic behaviors. Analysis indicated an overall positive therapeutic effect, as well as a positive change in academic behaviors for female participants in both programs.

Feminist Family Therapy for Treating Female Survivors of Childhood Sexual Abuse

Female survivors of childhood sexual abuse make up a population that warrants special clinical attention. Despite the amount of literature devoted to childhood sexual abuse, little attention has been paid to the culture of the individual survivor and her family in the field of couple and family therapy. There are unique aspects about womens experiences with childhood sexual abuse that require attention to gender and cultural issues. To attend to this identified gap, an overview of some of the common problem areas that survivors and their families experience is provided, and feminist family therapy is discussed as a suggested treatment approach.

Use of sexuality-focused entertainment media in sex education

The literature on the impact of entertainment media on sex education is typically pathology-focused, unclear regarding the effects of such usage, and void of dialogue between those who actually work in the areas of sexuality education and entertainment. To address this gap, this paper is the product of joint authorship between media figures from varied sexually-focused programming fields and academics who teach and conduct research in the areas of sexuality and relational health. The authors focus on the role that various forms of entertainment media play in educating members of the public and college classrooms in the areas of sex and sexuality. Additionally, examples of the inclusion of entertainment media in educational contexts are discussed.